Optoelectronics: Optical properties and electronic structures of complex metal oxides. Optical properties and electronic structures of complex metal oxides.

Optical spectroscopy is an indispensable tool in studying and understanding physical properties of transition-metal oxides. The spectroscopic functions obtained using various optical techniques provide quantitative information on the electronic structure of the materials system, including electrodynamic quantities and the band gap values. In this Chapter, we introduce the basic concept of optical spectroscopy applied to transition-metal-oxide thin films and heterostructures. We also explain new spectroscopic approaches, which combine the growth and spectroscopy for real-time studies of oxide materials during the in situ thin-film growth and ex situ environmentally controlled experiment. We also show several examples of practical applications of optical spectroscopy for various classes of complex oxide heterostructures.